The Cape Flats Book Festival will be taking place on 4 and 5 November this year, and I cannot encourage you enough to attend this wonderful festival. Last year was the first time Karavan Press participated and we had an amazing time. We are so happy to have been invited back and can’t wait!
The programme is packed with literary goodness. The venue – West End Primary School – is great. Books will be on sale. Parking and delicious food are available at the school throughout the weekend. The atmosphere is celebratory. And we have heard that Oaky will be there. You do not want to miss it!
Earlier this year, the McGregor Poetry Festival announced a hiatus for a year. The organisers are taking a well-deserved break. The Red Wheelbarrow Poetry Collective and the Rosebank Writers’ Circle decided to step into the breach and organised a once-off event to celebrate poetry at a day-long poetry festival here in Cape Town. Please join us for these exciting poetry panels, taking place at two venues, the Bertha House and Youngblood-Africa, on 4 November 2023.
Events are free! Books will be on sale throughout the day.
In their latest newsletter, The Book Lounge, wrote the following about Karavan Press:
Karavan Press is a small publishing house owned and run by Karina Szczurek, seriously punching above its weight. We are so grateful to Karina for publishing so many wonderful books that we thought we should shine a light on some of the books she is responsible for that will be featured at Open Book Festival:
Everyone Dies by Frankie Murrey ~ An exquisite debut collection of stories – I will be cajoling Frankie on to the stage to talk about Everyone Dies. – Mervyn
A Crowded Lonely Walk by Sipho Banda ~ In this riveting poetry collection, Sipho Banda delves into the daily happenings of the ubiquitous but anonymous working class, and restores dignity to those whose lived experiences so often go overlooked. – Belinda
Glass Tower by Sarah Isaacs ~ Glass Tower is the winner of the inaugural Island Prize for debut fiction from Africa.
Inside your body there are flowers by Diane Awerbuck ~ an incredibly versatile writer who returns to the genre for which she is best known – the short story – in this new collection which is nothing short of superb.
The Bitterness of Olives is set in Gaza and Israel and is Andrew’s finest novel. Empathetic, thought provoking, beautifully written with the pace of a thriller. – Mervyn
Striving for Social Equity edited by Joy Watson and Ogochuku Nzewi ~ an invaluable gathering of voices touching on the very real challenges facing South Africans today.
What Remains by Dawn Garisch ~ new collection of stories from one of our best-loved writers that deals with relationships, ageing and so much more.
Karina will be participating in a discussion about the future of publishing.
The Book Lounge
We are immensely grateful for the encouragement and support! And this is how we will be “punching” at Open Book Festival 2023:
In celebration of Sindiwe Magona’s 80th birthday, a collection of tributes from friends, family and colleagues on how this literary icon has touched their lives.
Her strong message to all of us is that no matter what life throws at us, it is possible to push through adversity and do what we never imagined we could. Only if that adversity – those rocks – does not make us give up on how we think of ourselves. She mined for her gold and found it. And it is not her gold only while others claw at stones. It is a gold that she offers for all of us to grow rich on. — Zubeida Jaffer
CONTRIBUTORS:
Finuala Dowling • Thokozile Sayedwa • Mamphela Ramphele • Penelope Magona-Dano • Lindy Wilson • Bergliot Dallas • Jean Williams • Marie Philip • Lyndall Gordon • Mamatebele Hoohlo • Rajendra Chetty • Renée Schatteman • Rosemary Gray • Tanya Barben • Kamoji Wachira • Tessa Dowling • Nigel Vermaas • Sarah Davies Cordova with Hélène M. Coutrot and Sophie Barthélémy • Carol Lindsay Shore • Sara CF de Gouveia • Motlatsi Motsoasele • Maralin Vanrenen • Dianne Shober • Elinor Sisulu • Helen Moffett • Margaret Clough • Zubeida Jaffer • Janice O’Brien • Nancy Richards • Theo Krynauw • Unathi Kapa • Antjie Krog
All profits from the publication of Sindiwe’s Gift will be donated to Sparklekids.
Dr Sindiwe Magona turns 80 today and on behalf of all of us in the literary community whose lives she has touched with her inspiration, wonder and wisdom, I would like to simply say: HAPPY BIRTHDAY and THANK YOU!
Together with compilers – Sindiwe’s daughter, Thokozile Sayedwa, and Nancy Richards – as well as all the amazing contributors, Karavan Press celebrates Sindiwe’s 80th with the publication of Sindiwe’s Gift, a collection of personal essays by only a few of the people whose journeys have been enriched by Sindiwe’s presence in their lives.
Yesterday, family, friends and Sindiwe’s Gift contributors gathered at Artscape to honour Dr Sindiwe Magona at 80 and to celebrate her own collection of essays, I Write the Yawning Void (Wits UP, 2023), as well as Sindiwe’s Gift as part of the Woman Zone / Artscape Women’s Humanity FestivalMILESTONES: Celebrating, Supporting and EmpoweringWomen of Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.
The first copy of Sindiwe’s Gift was presented to Sindiwe by Thoko, who also praised her mother and thanked her for being her best friend. The all-woman marimba band Women Unite welcomed everyone with the warmth of their sound, happy birthday was sung, dancing occurred spontaneously, contributors said a few words, Nancy interviewed Sindiwe, the birthday cake was delicious, there was a lot of laughter and hugging, and tears of joy were shed.
If we could have bottled the energy of the occasion, it would have powered the country for the next decade. And if she were put in charge of things, Sindiwe would need only a tenth of the time to sort us all out. Her intellect, talent, compassion and generosity have no equals. It is impossible to put into words what a gift she and her work have been to all of us in South Africa, and way beyond.
“Wake up to yourself!” Sindiwe said.
Thank you, Sindiwe!
Gratitude to Thoko, Nancy, Woman Zone, Artscape and all who celebrated with us. Danielle Clough, thank you for allowing us to use your portrait for the cover, and Monique Cleghorn, for the beautiful design of the book! And thank you to all the Sindiwe’s Gift contributors:
Two of our contributors, Bergliot Dallas and Rosemary Gray, celebrate their birthdays with Sindiwe today. Happy Birthday to you!
All profits from the publication of Sindiwe’s Gift will be donated to Sparklekids, an organisation close to Sindiwe’s heart.
karavanpress.com 